**6. Conclusion**

*Goats (Capra) - From Ancient to Modern*

**5. Discussion**

**Figure 15.**

or giraffes) [33].

no underlying 'motif' or meaning is intended.

*suḫurmašû ([32]: Plate X) (housed in the Brooklyn Museum).*

Capricorn (so-named by the Greeks [35]).

SUHUR.MAS in tablets from Uruk [36].

From the preceding source material, several inferences relating to the perception of ANE societies regarding goats can be made. The images shown by the material artefacts, in which goats are portrayed, possess a decorative, symbolic, religious or mythological motive. It is clearly discernible when goats are merely portrayed as a livestock species. These include the goatherd tablets, the agricultural scene in the cylinder seal from Mari, and the battle scene where goats and sheep probably represent booty. It is clear from the (quantitatively) numerous depictions of goats in domestic scenes that goats played an important role in the household and temple economies of the time. In these scenes, it is clear that the goat represents itself and

*A cylinder seal, from the late Babylonian era, possibly depicts a worshipper before divine images, including the* 

Also, generally, goats are rendered very realistically (long, straight or curved horns and upright tail) and in their characteristic attitudes since they were a familiar sight in everyday life. This can be expected, since, in general, variations are most often found in animals that the artists were not as familiar with (such as elephants

The animal-animal hybrid, the goat-fish, representing Ea or Enki, is most probably the basis of the constellation Capricorn. According to Roy [34], all evidence points to the Sumero-Akkadian astronomer priests as the makers of the constellations as we know them. Mesopotamia is found on the required latitude to have seen all the constellations (some are not visible from the southern hemisphere), the position of the stars at that time (3000–2000 B.C.E.) would provide a perfect fit for their observations, and the constellations themselves match almost every deity in the Mesopotamian pantheon, including the goat-fish of Ea, now known as

In the myth of the creation of the world, Marduk, aside from creating man, also

defined the calendar, setting up the Zodiac and the sequence of celestial events that would signify the changing seasons [34]. Star lists in cuneiform have been found, detailing these constellations and their positions relative to each other. The positions of the stars were used for navigation, divining the future and as a means to map boundaries (constellations often appear on boundary stones). Gurshtein [35] agrees that the goat-fish constellation has Sumerian origins. It is interesting to note that the goat-fish icon is called a suḫurmašû [32], whereas Capricorn is called

**18**

The depiction of goats in the art and literature of the Ancient Near Eastern cultures provides us with a means to understand man's attitudes towards goats during this period in time. From the resources used, it is clear that goats fulfilled an immensely important utilitarian function. The heritage of Enki (Ea) as the constellation of Capricorn is significant. The use of goats in ritual and symbolism has provided us with many motifs related to goats that are still in use today: these include the motifs of fertility, intelligence and craftiness. From all accounts, Enki (Ea) was a benevolent god, always available to solve problems, and often assisting mankind to avert extinction. The imagery associated with Enki/Ea, as in the sacred tree, the sweet waters, the apotropaic suḫurmašû and ultimately the goat, communicates Enki as a symbol of life and an averter of evil.

These are powerfully hopeful and positive images.
